Budget Wise :: NE Thailand Supplement

When we left Thailand back in December the country was about to start their new Visa on Arrival. What used to be a free 30-day Visa for Americans is now only a 15-day Visa. Luckily, it is still free, but this does put a little cramp in a schedule if you’re expecting a full 30-day Visa. (If you fly into the country, I believe you still get the initial 30 days, but any land crossing after that now only gets you 15 as far we understand.) Although we didn’t have as much time in the country this time around, we did still manage to visit three new cities in Northeast Thailand on our way down to Bangkok from Vientiane, Laos. Therefore, the following is meant as a supplement to the original Budget Wise Thailand.

Our 12 day daily average :: $28.87 USD (for two people: one couple) :: 1 USD = 35 THB (baht)

Since this was the end of our Southeast Asian tour and also our international trip we did relax a bit on our budget, but also on our motivation to get out and do things as well. At this time of the year, it is HOT in this region, so our main priority was a room with A/C and some near by tasty grub.

Nong Khai $27.73 (3 day average) :: Khon Kaen $26.20 (3 d.a.) :: Korat $27.17 (3 d.a.) :: Bangkok $34.37 (3 d.a.)

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:: Budget Breakdown Supplement ::

Since this is just a supplement to the original Budget Wise Thailand, I will spare you all the details and just explain the differences we noticed in this region of the country. First of all, guesthouses were about the same price in this region and we paid anywhere from 400-600 Baht for a double A/C room. We did get free WiFi in our guesthouses in Nong Khai and Khon Kaen, but we had to pay for it in Korat (1 Baht/minute) and Bangkok (50 Baht/day). The cost of meals and drinks were pretty much the same as well, but we didn’t see as many good food-hole or food market options as we did on the West side of the country – or maybe we just got lazy. We only really did tourist-like activities in Nong Khai because we couldn’t pass up visiting the Salakeawkoo Sculpture Park. This was well worth the visit and only cost us 20 Baht per entry ticket. We rented some bikes from our Guesthouse, Ruan Thai, for 30 Baht for the day and just rode out there. Make sure to visit the Mutmee Guesthouse (a cool place also) to pick up a map to the park which also includes a diagram of the circle of life inside the park. We traveled to each city by bus and the costs were as follows: Nong Khai to Khon Kaen for 110 Baht/ticket, then to Korat for 125 Baht/ticket, and finally to Bangkok for 198 Baht/ticket.

For more detail on budget traveling in Northern Thailand, check out the original Budget Wise Thailand post. We hope this helps. Enjoy your travels.

Good Morning America

Bangkok, Thailand

You know that you’re back on Khaosan Road when you are walking down the street at 1am and you see a mom with her little kid in a stroller, standing amongst the prostitutes and drunken teenagers.

Hoteling through Northeast Thailand

Khon Kaen & Khorat, Thailand

We pulled into Khon Kaen, melting under the heat, and excited about the prospect of getting into a room with an air conditioner and a cold shower. We went to the Roma Hotel and asked for an A/C room. They said it would be 500 baht, I said , how about 400 baht, and they smiled, said ok and handed me the key. The smile should have been my clue. Who smiles when you talk them down? So we drag our sweaty bodies and heavy bags up four flights of stairs and enter a room that looks like this….

Wat Wonderland Nong Khai

Nong Khai, Thailand

This is one of those cities that you’ll never hear about, even within Thailand, but is a surprising treasure. The only reason that most people stop in Nong Khai is that they are either en-route to or leaving Vientiane, Laos. Anyone who stops in Nong Khai for more than a day, though, should be pleasantly surprised by the mega Wats, relaxing riverside promenade, and healthy variety of restaurant options.

Crossing Over: The Aranyaprathet-Poipet Border

Poipet, Cambodia

Corruption is everywhere. It’s in governments, organizations, businesses, and average people. I know this. Almost all of us know this. This never really stops any of us from being appalled and infuriated by it, though. It also didn’t stop Gage and me from attempting to cross the border from Thailand into Cambodia. For a person who was angry for three days after the woman at the local bakery blatantly overcharged her a dollar for a bag of cookies, this was just asking for trouble.

Budget Wise :: Thailand

Thailand provides many options to accommodate both the small budget traveler and the big budget vacationer’s needs. As per usual, our goal was to spend as little as we could while still enjoying as many comforts as we could afford. Our trip took us from Bangkok slowly up North until we hit Chiang Mai, where we stayed for a while, and then back down to Bangkok where we caught a bus to head toward Cambodia. It seemed to us that most vacationers we met were more interested in Southern Thailand’s beaches, but we avoided that region because it also happens to be the most expensive. So, if you’re interested in information on traveling through Northern Thailand, you’re in the right place, read on.

Culture Shock :: Thailand :: Part 3

Some more fun observations from our travels in the land of smiles…

Working on a Night Train

Bangkok, Thailand

It didn’t really feel like we had been in Chiang Mai for forty days until we actually had to leave. Just like in Torun, we realized that staying in one place for a long time and then leaving can bring all of the original travel nerves back. It’s so easy to get comfortable. To enjoy the routine of waking early, meditating in my room, then walking into the cool morning air, through the bustling market street, and saying good morning to my favorite vendor as she packed my breakfast of mangoes, sticky rice, and treats wrapped in banana leaves. I miss the smile of my banana pancake chef and afternoons spent wandering among the shelves of endless used book stores. I understand why Chiang Mai is the Thai capital of expats. You get the city conveniences, but the small town feel. But as our meditation bootcamp made indisputably clear, all things in life are impermanent, or as we say in the west, all good things must come to an end.

Crowned in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Most people probably have some instant thoughts come to mind when they hear ‘Thailand’. Maybe beaches and the full moon party, or jungle treks through the tropical hills, or seedy red light districts down sketchy alley ways. What you may not think of is dentistry. Granted, Thailand has all of the lovely things aforementioned, but it also has a great medical industry and much like everything in this country, it’s really inexpensive. In fact, an entire industry has developed because of it. People requiring major dental work in the USA or UK often buy vacation packages through a specialized travel agent. Just Google ‘dental tourism Thailand’ and you’ll see what I mean. Often for the same price of a dental treatment back home, people can get a flight, quality dental treatment, a nice hotel, and often more in Thailand. While certainly not the only reason we wanted to visit the land of smiles, the fact that Gage had two dead and chipping teeth in his mouth certainly made Thailand even more enticing.

Happy Loi Krathong

Chiang Mai, Thailand

When we asked to leave the meditation center early, the Abbot accused us of leaving just so that we could see the festival in Chiang Mai. That wasn’t true at all, but we figured, hey, while we’re out…. And so at night we headed down to the Tha Pae Gate in the center of town and joined the festivities in celebration of Loi Krathong. Much like the festivals in America, this one had a parade with a bunch of really elaborate floats. Of course the only difference was that all of the floats had something to do with past Siamese kings or Buddha with the occasional beauty pagent winner thrown in for good measure. The gate area was strung with so many lanterns, it looked like the open air square had a roof. The vendors were out in full effect selling clothing and art as well as yummy foods like the traditional roti sai mai, sugar crepes with condensed milk.